Having fun with a comfortmatic breakdown

TheBig1

TheBig1

Deceased RIP
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many many years! since I was a kid
As many of you will know my motorhome broke down last Tuesday. I pulled up at a roundabout and it dropped out of gear, then refused to re-engage any gear. After a nightmare of a day the RAC towed it to a garage who got round to taking a look.

Initial investigation showed no fluid in the clutch hydraulic system. Plenty in the reservoir, which is shared with the brakes, but the clutch won't bleed. I know what I suspect, but has anyone else had and solved the problem?
 
The reservoir will be shared but internally separated so that a leak in the clutch system doesn’t leave you devoid of brakes. That said…slave cylinder gone pop? (not sure if they are external (good) or internal concentric type (box out and replace clutch time).
Jim
 
Happy Jim said:
The reservoir will be shared but internally separated so that a leak in the clutch system doesn’t leave you devoid of brakes. That said…slave cylinder gone pop? (not sure if they are external (good) or internal concentric type (box out and replace clutch time).
Jim
Click to expand...
Indeed, being an internal slave cylinder, it is pointless to just change that alone. Always sensible to pay a little more and include the new clutch when reassembling

My thoughts are that if the system can be force bled backwards and zero sign of a leak, consider the fluid itself boiled on the hottest day ever. Time to change the brake/clutch fluid. Van is 2012 and 25,000 approximately on the clock. The fluid though is hygroscopic and will absorb water, so allowing it to boil
 
If there is no visible fluid loss how could they diagnose that there was no fluid on the line? Sounds very much like an electrical glitch that MES can sort out.
 
Reallyretired said:
My view too. I have never had one but read plenty of horror stories on here.
Click to expand...
Plenty out there that don’t ever have trouble as well when you consider how many there are🤔

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Sounds like it could be the clutch and dual mass flywheel .
 
Still waiting on an update. They tried bleeding the clutch circuit, assuming it was air and discovered no fluid in the circuit. No staining or wet patches indicative of a leak. If the seal in the slave had failed it would lose the fluid there, but there is always a tell tale stain at the bottom of the bell housing

The electrical circuit appears to be working, as tested without the engine running, you can select gears. The actuator cant select because the clutch is not being released.

I am an old fashioned fixer type mechanic, not one of these new fitters that change parts till they find the fault. Plus if not needed I don't want to overspend on this repair
 
I find it unbelievable that the Comfomatic was in production for 14 years and still no one can diagnose or fix them easily. They should be easy to sort compared to a proper auto box.

Good luck you will need it.
 
Friend of mine had the same problem twice he was told it was a computer problem
He got rid of the camper
Yet I had one on my camper I had for 4 years did not have a problem
So is it the luck of the draw
 
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How different is the manual box? Does the gear lever have a mechanical connection to the box or is it still fly by wire? Is the clutch slave cylinder external or is it still inside the box?

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Well just off the phone with Adams Morey for the second time today. First call was to say they had replaced the brake/clutch fluid and could select gears. Did a gearbox re-learn procedure on the gearbox ecu. Off on a road test to make sure. Second call to say It was not changing right. They suspect the slave cylinder (inside bell housing) is damaged and will need replacing. Gearbox coming out, so to save money long term I have asked for a new clutch whilst it is out
 
TheBig1 said:
Well just off the phone with Adams Morey for the second time today. First call was to say they had replaced the brake/clutch fluid and could select gears. Did a gearbox re-learn procedure on the gearbox ecu. Off on a road test to make sure. Second call to say It was not changing right. They suspect the slave cylinder (inside bell housing) is damaged and will need replacing. Gearbox coming out, so to save money long term I have asked for a new clutch whilst it is out
Click to expand...
Are you getting the dual mass flywheel replaced as well?
 
TheBig1 said:
Well just off the phone with Adams Morey for the second time today. First call was to say they had replaced the brake/clutch fluid and could select gears. Did a gearbox re-learn procedure on the gearbox ecu. Off on a road test to make sure. Second call to say It was not changing right. They suspect the slave cylinder (inside bell housing) is damaged and will need replacing. Gearbox coming out, so to save money long term I have asked for a new clutch whilst it is out
Click to expand...
To save money in the long term I would ask to have a gearstick and a clutch pedal put in, at least you can do something with that, surprising how often a few pumps on the clutch pedal will get you home.
 
TheBig1 said:
Well just off the phone with Adams Morey for the second time today. First call was to say they had replaced the brake/clutch fluid and could select gears. Did a gearbox re-learn procedure on the gearbox ecu. Off on a road test to make sure. Second call to say It was not changing right. They suspect the slave cylinder (inside bell housing) is damaged and will need replacing. Gearbox coming out, so to save money long term I have asked for a new clutch whilst it is out
Click to expand...
The garage need to undertake a 'clutch self calibration enable' procedure otherwise just doing the gearbox re-learning will only teach the gear change operation but not the clutch position operation and the clutch will not know how worn it is. Changing the clutch and DMF will also sort this by putting the wear back to factory 0 position but it's a beepin expensive way of doing a 5 minute electronic learn procedure and getting the remaining 100k out of the clutch.

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